Kunsan K-8 Air Base () is a

United States Air Force base This is a list of Military base, installations operated by the United States Air Force located within the United States and abroad. Locations where the Air Force have a notable presence but do not operate the facility are also listed. Backgroun ...

located at

Gunsan Airport Gunsan Airport is an airport serving Gunsan, a city in the North Jeolla Province in South Korea. In 2019, 306,518 passengers used the airport. It shares its runway with Kunsan Air Base, which uses the same IATA and ICAO codes. Because Gunsan A ...

, on the west coast of the

Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

bordered by the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

. It is located in the town of

Gunsan Gunsan (; ), also romanized as Kunsan, is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-t ...

(also romanized as Kunsan), about south of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. Kunsan Air Base is the home of the 8th Fighter Wing, "The Wolf Pack," assigned to the

Pacific Air Forces The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PAC ...

Seventh Air Force The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...

and the 38th Fighter Group of the

Republic of Korea Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the Air force, aerial and Space force, space warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of National Defense (South K ...

. About 45 F-16 aircraft are stationed at the base. It is one of two major Air Force installations operated by the

United States Forces Korea The United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a Unified Combatant Command#Subordinate Unified Command, sub-unified command of United States Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK was initially established in 1957, and e ...

, the other being

Osan Air Base Osan Air Base (K-55; ; Hanja: ) is a United States Air Force (USAF) and Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) base located near Songtan station in the city of Pyeongtaek, South Korea, south of Seoul. Despite its name, Osan AB is not within Osan C ...

History

The history of Kunsan Air Base dates back to 1938, when

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese forces occupying Korea built a base near Kunsan for fighter-interceptor aircraft. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

first used the base in 1945, but on a very small scale. From 1945 to 1950, the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and later the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

intermittently operated small detachments from Kunsan, with these detachments maintaining liaison aircraft. At most these detachments contained a handful of people. When the United States pulled its combat units out of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in 1949, it left only a Military Assistance Advisory Group in the country, and the periodic detachments at Kunsan became even more infrequent.

Korean War

When the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

broke out on 25 June 1950, Kunsan Air Base had no United States flying units assigned. In their rapid advance, the invading

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

ns captured Kunsan Air Base on 13 July 1950. The 24th Infantry Division retook Kunsan in October 1950, and the Chinese intervention that winter failed to push far enough south to put Kunsan in jeopardy. United States forces first operated in significant numbers from the base in 1951. The first USAF unit to be assigned to the base was the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, which arrived on 1 April 1951. The 27th Fighter Escort Wing was one of the first

F-84 Thunderjet The Republic F-84 Thunderjet is an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thunde ...

units to see combat action in Korea and earned numerous honors and awards for their combat record during the Korean War. Improvements to the base were needed, however, to accommodate jet fighters. The 27th FEW was reassigned at the end April and the Army's 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion built a runway to replace the sod runway constructed by Japanese. This runway was known as Taxiway Charlie (06/24). By August, construction had progressed to the point that heavier units could be based at Kusan and the USAF assigned the 3rd Bombardment Wing to Kunsan. The 3rd Bomb Wing consisting of the 8th, 13th and 90th Bomb Squadrons flew the B-26 Invader bomber during the war, remaining at Kunsan from August 1951 until October 1954. A Marine aviation squadron, VMF(N)-513, arrived in April 1952, and a few months later the base added the 474th Fighter-Bomber Group, which included three squadrons of F-84 fighters, bringing the total size of the operation to one wing, one group, and a Marine fighter squadron. The 474th bombed and strafed such targets as bunkers, troops, artillery positions, bridges, vehicles, airfields, and power plants, and sometimes escorted bombers that attacked munitions factories and other objectives. In April 1953, the 474th Fighter-Bomber Group returned to the United States and was replaced by the 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing, also flying the F-84. During the Korean War, the large number of locations used for bases and the similarity of some geographical names prompted the Air Force to use alphanumeric identifiers for bases in addition to their proper designations. Under this system, each base in Korea received a "K number," simplifying positive identification when referring to the various bases. Kunsan received the number K-8, while

was also known as K-55.

Cold War

After hostilities ceased, the base began to draw down. The F-84 forces of the 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing left in November 1953, and by October 1954, the host unit of the base, the 3d Bombardment Wing, also departed. This left the base with a much-reduced mission. From 1953 to 1954, the 808th and 841st Engineering Aviation Battalions constructed what is today's main runway. For the next several years Kunsan merely hosted periodic rotations of fighter and light bomber squadrons, with base facilities maintained and operated by an air base group. During 1957 and 1958 the base hosted squadrons from Japan temporarily. During 1957–1958, a

(ROKAF)

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

crashed into the Yellow Sea south of the base after having a flame out and a USAF

F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft designed and produced by the aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation. The first of the Century Series of American jet fighters, it was the first United ...

crashed in the rice paddies north of the base. The base remained a radar site as a backup during this time to Osan, until the Radar site was turned over to the ROKAF in mid 1958. The Osan detachment on the base also maintained a radio relay site from a hill on the base. Then the base remained relatively dormant, hosting temporary deployments of flying units and serving as a safe haven base for aircraft evacuated from Okinawa and Guam during typhoons. In 1965, the ROKAF assigned a squadron of F-86 fighters to the base. This ROKAF unit was the only permanently assigned flying contingent at Kunsan until after the Pueblo incident in 1968. F-4E-67-0231-16tfs-02APR70

At an unknown date in this time frame, the US Army 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade assigned Battery B, 6th Battalion,

44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment The 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an Air Defense Artillery regiment of the United States Army, first constituted in 1918 in the Regular Army during World War I. During World War II the unit served as the 54th Coast Artillery Regiment L ...

, a

HAWK Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

missile unit to the base. The Tactical Operations site was located on a hill just off the coast, but near the base. Its mission was to defend the base from air attack. The HAWK site and all hardware was turned over to the Korean Army sometime in the early 1990s. After the USS ''Pueblo'' was captured by the North Koreans in January 1968, the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing deployed to Korea on January 25, 1968. Under the command of Col. Jack Hayes, F-4D Phantom IIs arrived at Kunsan on January 29, 1968, as part of Operation Combat Fox. In March, Col. Hayes was replaced by Col.

Chuck Yeager Brigadier general (United States), Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in his ...

, the 4th remained in Korea until replaced by the

354th Tactical Fighter Wing The 354th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force wing that is part of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is the host wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and is assigned to the Eleventh Air Force (11 AF). The wing replaced the 343d Fighter W ...

. The 354th TFW consisting of the

Kansas Air National Guard The Kansas Air National Guard (KS ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Kansas, United States of America. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and along with the Kansas Army National Guard, an element of the Kansas National Guard ...

, the

Ohio Air National Guard The Ohio Air National Guard (OH ANG) is the aerial militia of the Ohio, State of Ohio, United States, United States of America. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and along with the Ohio Army National Guard an element of the Ohio Na ...

, (ANG) and a few members of the

District of Columbia Air National Guard A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

flying the F-100, arrived at Kunsan in July 1968, as part of the buildup of forces in Korea. In 1969, the wing began a transition from the F-100 to the F-4 Phantom. The 354th remained until June 1970, when the base again returned to hosting temporary deployments, such as the four-month activation of the 54th Tactical Fighter Wing from June through October 1970. The 3d Tactical Fighter Wing, previously designated the 3d Bombardment Wing, stationed at Kunsan in the early 1950s, arrived in March 1971 to assume control of the base. Like the 354th and 54th, the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing flew the F-4 Phantom. Aircraft came primarily from Misawa AB Japan, 475th Tactical Fighter Wing after it was inactivated and as were most of the personnel initially assigned to the 3rd TFW. When it first activated in May, the wing contained the 35th, 36th and

80th Tactical Fighter Squadron The 80th Fighter Squadron (traditionally nicknamed the "Headhunters", and since 1971 also the "Juvats") is a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter squadron (aviation), squadron of the United States Air Force, currently part of the 8th O ...

. In September, the 36th TFS transferred to Osan AB. In September 1974, the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, the "Wolf Pack," was transferred from Ubon Air Base,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

to replace the 3rd at Kunsan. The move took place in name only, as the 8th moved without personnel or equipment, absorbing all assets of the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing. This included the two flying squadrons, which continued to operate as the 35th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadrons, reuniting the wing with two of its original squadrons. Since then, the 8th has continued to serve as host unit of Kunsan Air Base, continually improving the base's facilities over the years. In February 2018, it was announced that following the completion of construction of hangars and supporting facilities at the base, 12

MQ-1C Gray Eagle The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle (previously the Warrior; also called Sky Warrior and ERMP or Extended-Range Multi-Purpose) is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). It was developed by General Atomics Ae ...

UAS' will be deployed to Kunsan in March/April 2018.

Major Commands

* US Army Pacific Air Command, (1946–47) *

Far East Air Forces The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at the Hickam AFB portion of Join ...

, (1947–57) *

, (1957–present)

Base operating units

* 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, (April – May 1951) * 931st Engineering Aviation Group (May – August 1951) * 3d Bombardment Wing (August 1951 – September 1954) * 6170th Air Base Group (September 1954 – April 1956) * 6170th Air Base Squadron (April 1956 – March 1959) * 6175th Air Base Group (March 1959 – August 1968) * 354th Tactical Fighter Wing (August 1968 – June 1970) * 6175th Air Base Group (June 1970 – March 1971) * 3d Tactical Fighter Wing (March 1971 – September 1974) * 8th Fighter Wing (September 1974 – present)

Major USAF units assigned

* 27th Fighter-Escort Wing (April 1951) * 3d Bombardment Wing (August 1951 – October 1954) * 474th Fighter-Bomber Wing (July 1952 – April 1953) * 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing (April – November 1953) *

(July 1968 – June 1970) * 54th Tactical Fighter Wing (June – October 1970) * 3d Tactical Fighter Wing (March 1971 – September 1974) * 8th Fighter Wing (September 1974–present) Kunsan has provided support for F-84G Thunderjet, B-26 Invader,

, RF-100 Super Sabre, RB-57 Canberra,

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bower ...

, and

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

operations.

Based Units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Kunsan Air Base. Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Kunsan, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.

United States Air Force

(PACAF) *

** 8th Fighter Wing *** Headquarters 8th Fighter Wing *** 8th Operations Group **** 8th Operations Support Squadron ****

35th Fighter Squadron The 35th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 8th Operations Group, stationed at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. The squadron operates the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority m ...

– F-16C/D – Fighting Falcon ****

80th Fighter Squadron The 80th Fighter Squadron (traditionally nicknamed the "Headhunters", and since 1971 also the "Juvats") is a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter squadron of the United States Air Force, currently part of the 8th Operations Group of ...

– F-16C/D – Fighting Falcon *** 8th Maintenance Group ****8th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron ****8th Maintenance Squadron ****8th Maintenance Operations Squadron *** 8th Mission Support Group ****8th Civil Engineer Squadron ****8th Communications Squadron ****8th Force Support Squadron ****8th Logistics Readiness Squadron ****8th Security Forces Squadron *** 8th Medical Group ****8th Medical Operations Squadron ****8th Medical Support Squadron

Air Mobility Command The Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri, ...

(AMC) * United States Air Force Expeditionary Center ** 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing *** 515th Air Mobility Operations Group **** 731st Air Mobility Squadron ***** Operating Location Alpha (GSU)

United States Army

US Army Pacific The United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) is an Army Service Component Command which serves as the Army service component for United States Indo-Pacific Command. It may also serve as a Joint Task Force headquarters. The command has forces in Alas ...

(USARPAC) Eighth Army *

94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command The 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (94th AAMDC) is an activated (at Fort Shafter on 16 October 2005) Air Defense Artillery command of the United States Army assigned to United States Army Pacific. It is headquartered at Joint Base Pea ...

35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade The 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (ADAB) is an Air Defense Artillery unit of the United States Army subordinate to the Eighth United States Army, located at Osan Air Base in the Republic of Korea. 35th ADAB has integrated the Terminal High A ...

*** 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment –

MIM-104 Patriot The MIM-104 Patriot is a mobile interceptor missile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary such system used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives it ...

* 65th Medical Brigade *** 25th Transportation Battalion

Republic of Korea Air Force

Air Force Operations Command * Air Combat Command ** 38th Fighter Group *** 111th Fighter Squadron (111대대) – F-16C/D and KF-16C/D

References

*
USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to present
* Some of the text in this article was taken from pages on th
Kunsan Air Base website
which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource. That information was supplemented by: * Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM. * Fletcher, Harry R. (1989) Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. . * Thompson, Warren (2000). B-26 Invader Units over Korea. Osprey Publishing * Thompson, Warren (2001). F-80 Shooting Star Units over Korea. Osprey Publishing

External links

Kunsan Air Base
official U.S. Air Force website

* * {{authority control Installations of the United States Air Force in South Korea Gunsan Airports established in 1938 Buildings and structures in North Jeolla Province Korean War air bases 1938 establishments in Korea Military installations of Japan in Korea Airports in Korea under Japanese rule Second Sino-Japanese War airfields